ANDOVER, Mass., March 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Smith & Nephew's Endoscopy Division today announced the launch of the BIORAPTOR 2.3 PK Suture Anchor for repair of instability in the hip or shoulder joint. The device is featured at Smith & Nephew Endoscopy's booth at the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgery 75th annual meeting in San Francisco, Calif.
Joint instability results when trauma or overuse causes the labrum, or fibrous cartilage lip that runs along the rim of the socket in the shoulder or hip, to stretch or tear. In the shoulder, labral damage often leads to dislocation or subluxation (partial dislocation), which can be painful and limit range of motion. In the hip, it can trigger a clicking or snapping sensation painful enough to be disabling. In both joints, the misalignment that results from labral tears can lead to osteoarthritis.
Smith & Nephew's BIORAPTOR 2.3 PK anchor is designed to be implanted in the dense bone along the rim of the joint socket. Its small size and design provide strong fixation and allow a surgeon to use more than one to establish multiple attachment points, creating a uniform bumper and stabilizing the joint.
The BIORAPTOR 2.3 PK anchor comes with a delivery system that enables surgeons to place it through a portal, or percutaneously (through the skin).
"The new BIORAPTOR system allows me to precisely place the anchors exactly where I want them to be," said Mr. Damian Griffin, a hip specialist and Professor of Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Warwick in the UK. "Working through the portal, it can be difficult to place the anchor properly. With the ability to use a percutaneous approach, I can hit the rim at the precise angle I want."
Dr. Gary M. Gartsman, a shoulder specialist at Texas Orthopedic Hospital in Houston, said the BIORAPTOR 2.3 PK anchor is the "perfect size for capsular stabilization. It holds well, and I am able to insert it at the oblique angle that is often necessary in Bankart repairs."
The BIORAPTOR 2.3 PK Suture Anchor is the second in Smith & Nephew Endoscopy's family of BIORAPTOR suture anchors. The BIORAPTOR 2.9 Suture Anchor, released in 2004, was designed for use in the shoulder, and later adapted for the hip, one of the most challenging joints to access and repair.
"The numbers of surgeons performing hip and shoulder instability repair arthroscopically is climbing, thanks to the development of tools and techniques such as the BIORAPTOR 2.3 Anchor that make these procedures less traumatic to the patient, and less labor-intensive for the practitioner," said Joe Darling, General Manager and Senior VP of Smith & Nephew Endoscopy's Arthroscopic Repair business unit.
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Smith & Nephew is a global medical technology business, specialising in Orthopaedic Reconstruction, Orthopaedic Trauma and Clinical Therapies, Endoscopy and Advanced Wound Management products. Smith & Nephew is a global leader in arthroscopy and advanced wound management and is one of the leading global orthopaedics companies.
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Contact: Joe Metzger, Vice President, Corporate Communications
Smith & Nephew Endoscopy
(978) 749-1330
